A Consequence Called Azure
by DaisyTango28
Summary: A story in which Naruto and Sasuke struggle to balance the dynamics of a second chance. Sequel to "Cruel Irony." SasuNaru, SaiSaku
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys! This is chapter one of the sequel to my story "Cruel Irony." If you haven't read it, I encourage you to go back and read it, as this story will make little to no sense without it. Go to my profile and read it! :D

Information: Before anyone reads further into this chapter, I will say their is an original character. But before you abort this entire thing in a blaze of fanfiction outrage, let me just make it clear that this character plays an incredibly small part and will fade out after the first two or three chapters. The main focus of this story is on SasuNaru, with SaiSaku on the back-burner. Also, I own nothing about Naruto or any of it's characters; because if I did, Sasuke and Naruto would be so canon right now it would hurt. And on that note, please enjoy and don't forget to review! Hope you guys like it!

"Hey, asshole!" Was the comment Naruto received as Kiba slapped his hand away from his plate with a pair of chopsticks. "Step off!"

"Geez! So hormonal." Naruto whined, sucking on his bruised knuckle as Kiba stuck his tongue out.

Kiba, Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji were currently eating lunch in Konoha's number one barbecue place (per Chouji's request) as Naruto, in all of his grace, sat shamelessly on top of the table, much to Ino's chagrin.

"Any word on how many more injections you're going to have to take?" Ino asked as she sipped a glass of water.

"Mm...Baa-chan said twice a day for the first six months, but things are going pretty well, so I'm hoping she'll stop them early." Stretching, Naruto leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. "They hurt like hell, so I hope four straight months is good enough."

"Don't be so hasty. It's troublesome." Shikamaru replied as he cupped his hand around a cigarette and lighter. Naruto watched the light flicker between his fingers as Shikamaru exhaled a billow of smoke. "Those vaccinations are erasing two years of extreme damage. You can't rush that kind of thing."

Kiba nodded in agreement as he bent low over his plate and shoveled food into his mouth.

"He's probably right, Naruto. You're really on God's good humor with that medicine. I wouldn't take it so lightly." Ino replied as she sent Chouji a wary look, beckoning him to chew, _then _swallow.

"No, you're probably right." Naruto replied, remembering how grateful he actually did feel for the medicine.

Tsunade, Sakura and Shizune had labored furiously over isolating a cure for the withdrawal symptoms, and their efforts were the only reason he was allowed to go on missions again. He remembered how constantly ill he felt, waking up every night throwing up or drenched in night sweats. He had been so miserable with the Kyuubi's chakra leaking into his body that he never once considered that he had somehow become dependent on it. Sakura had tried to explain the logistics behind it, but it still didn't make much sense. Either way, he was happy to be through with that time of his life.

"Can we talk about something else?" Chouji asked, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "The negativity of this topic is killing my appetite."

"That's not even _remotely_ possible." Kiba drawled, ignoring the malevolent glint in Chouji's eye that was sent his way.

"How was the mission yesterday?" Shikamaru asked, ignoring the banter and taking another drag of his cigarette. "Heard things got a little scary for a while there."

Ino put her chopsticks down and sent him an irritated sideways glance - a typical indication that she had not been informed of what he was talking about, and thus felt wrongfully out-of-the-loop.

"Hah! Everything was _fine_. Sasuke and that old hag are just blowing things wildly out of proportion." Naruto smiled as Shikamaru somewhat laughed, though not in a way that meant anything was actually funny.

"What happened?" Ino asked, turning from Shikamaru to Naruto. "Did anyone get hurt?"

"Other than Sasuke's ego? No." Naruto replied.

"Aha! Killed it." Kiba commented through a smirk as he fist-bumped with Naruto, though coughed awkwardly as Ino peered at them darkly.

"Look, it was no big deal. Baa-chan sent us out because there's been some activity in the Forest of Death lately. Just small-shit Shinobi that have been threatening travelers for money."

"And?" Ino asked impatiently.

"And when we got out there, we ended up being confronted by somebody who had a bunch of groupies. Sasuke got cornered, and one of the guys was a poison artist, so when I saw that he was coming from behind with a poisoned kunai, I kind of...knocked Sasuke out of the way."

"Obviously you didn't get hit?" Ino asked slowly, scanning her eyes over Naruto's face for some kind of enlightenment. Chouji and Kiba had even stopped forking down food, suggesting that this story was still garnering far more attention than it really deserved.

"I...did, but I was wearing that armor that Gai sensei made me wear, so it lodged into the chain-mail before it could actually hit me."

"You eternally lucky son-of-a-bitch." Kiba commented, but before Naruto could retort, Ino spoke up:

"So what's the problem here? You helped Sasuke when he was in a vulnerable position. That's what's expected of Shinobi teamwork."

It was then that Shikamaru began to laugh, and Ino looked back and forth between the two as Naruto's eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"What?" She spat as Shikamaru crushed his cigarette in the ashtray.

"What Naruto failed to mention, was that the Sasuke that was cornered was actually a clone. The real Sasuke was waiting to attack from behind until Naruto upset the plan because he was too worried about Sasuke's well-being. Had Naruto been _objective_ about the whole thing, he would have realized that Sasuke cloned himself out before he decided that playing the sacrificial hero was a good idea."

"Damn, Naruto. Since when did you start babysitting Sasuke?" Kiba asked, laughing as he dodged an ice-cube to the head. "He wasn't part of the Akatsuki because he looked great in the robe, you know. Dude is fucking indestructible."

"I wasn't _babysitting_ Sasuke! The clone was just...really convincing." Naruto tried to explain, though his words were drowned out as all four of them broke into laughter. "And it's his fault for not letting me get involved! The cocky bastard never lets me participate anymore."

"I don't know. Sounds like you're playing mother hen to Sasuke. Can't say I'm all that surprised though." Chouji commented around a mouthful of noodles.

"Is he mad about it?" Ino asked.

"Is who mad?" Came a sweet voice, and Naruto looked up to find Sakura approach their table. Scooting their chairs over, she took a seat between Ino and Chouji.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto beamed, flashing her a dazzled smile.

"What are we talking about?" Sakura asked, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear as a server brought her a glass of water.

"Just about how _paranoid_ Naruto's become over Sasu-SHIT!" Kiba hissed as jolted forward, wincing as Naruto kicked his shin under the table.

"Oh. That." Sakura commented blankly as she scanned her eyes down the menu. Tsunade told her everything about everything anyway, so he wasn't surprised to see that she already knew. She probably would have agree'd with them too, so he didn't feel that it was especially worth asking about.

"It's not _Sasuke's_ anger he should be worried about. It's Hokage-sama's." Shikamaru replied objectively. "The village loses money for failed missions like that. The Elder's hold her responsible for that kind of loss."

"Eh, I'm not really worried about either of them. I did my job, so I'm not going to apologize because Sasuke-teme wants to play hero and do it all on his own." Naruto commented as he pulled up a chair beside Sakura and leaned in behind her. "But he's still mad about it, isn't he?"

"Not mad. Just annoyed." Sakura replied as the others conversed amongst themselves. "I think he's frustrated because you're undermining his skill."

"That's ridiculous. I know that bastard can take care of himself."

"Then why is this the third time this month that you've taken an unnecessary blow for him, hm?"

Eyes narrowing, Naruto allowed a huge smile to spread across his face. It took a minute, but he watched in satisfaction as Sakura slammed the menu on the table while her face transitioned through four shades of red.

"Ugh! Gross! That's so not what I meant. Don't be weird." She replied, deciding not to scold him for changing the subject. With any luck, he would come to her about it later when he realized just how annoyed with him Sasuke really was.

"Speaking of weird..." He cleared his throat as he shifted awkwardly. "How are things with...you know..._Sai?" _He asked, clutching his throat and swallowing in feigned disgust. He graoned as Ino elbowed him in the stomach for asking about a ladies "personal affairs." Truth is, he knew Ino was just as curious as they all were.

It was no surprise by now that Sakura and Sai had established themselves as Konoha's new "it" couple. Naruto pretended like it was bizarre -which it _was_- but he honestly couldn't think of anyone better for Sakura than Sai. But he was also viciously protective of Sakura, which led to multiple conversations with Sai about all the creative ways in which he knew how to perform a castration if the situation demanded it.

In the last eight months, the villagers had finally adjusted to life with Naruto. The few months following the reincarnation of his seal had been tumultuous, but it earned a trust in the village that left room for people to be genuinely relieved that it's number one most hyperactive ninja had seemingly risen from the dead. Where there once was unspoken grief now rang the relief of a time of years past.

"It's really none of your business." Sakura smirked, earning a sour expression from Naruto. "But I will say, things are...quite good." She smiled malevolently.

"Oh god. The visuals, Sakura. The _visuals_." He whined, but before Sakura could smack the back of his head, she was interrupted by a deep voice penetrating their conversation as a shadow descended over the table along with it.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Yes?" He asked in feigned innocence as the large figure of an ANBU loomed over. The formerly loud atmosphere in the restaurant dulled to a few intense stares at the ill-omened intrusion. All members of the table put their conversations on hold.

"I've been looking for you for over an hour. The Hokage requested your presence an hour ago."

"Why?"

"I have not been told."

"Uh...where is she?" He asked.

"In the Hokage Tower. Where she's been for the past five years."

"Dickwad." Naruto mumbled under his breath as the table struggled to stifle their giggling.

"What was that?" The ANBU asked.

"Nothing."

"Then please be on your way shortly. Valuable time has already been wasted." With that, the ANBU flashed out of the building, leaving nothing but a smoke trail behind.

"You better go." Sakura commented. "It sounds important."

"Yeah. You're right." He replied, standing up and stretching boisterously as the restaurant's customers went on with their lives.

"Be gone with you." Kiba replied teasingly, though not before Naruto casually strolled beside him, jacked one of the pork skewers off of his plate and bolted for the door. He heard a few colorful obscenities escape Kiba's lips as he dodged a skewer flying past his face.

"Bye guys!" He shouted as he ducked out of the door, narrowly escaping the chopstick that lodged itself into the wall next to his head.

"What an idiot." Shikamaru commented as he smiled and lit another cigarette. "It's good to have him back."

(HOKAGE TOWER - Twenty Minutes Later)

"Sorry I'm late, Baa-chan, but that ANBU you sent for me was a bitch in heat." Naruto explained as he stepped into Tsunade's office and turned to shut the door. "What's the proble-"

He stopped, though, when he saw Sasuke, clad in full ANBU uniform with one hand on his hip, glancing back at him impatiently. Tsunade stood up and folded her arms.

"Nice to finally have you join us, Naruto. Though I must say, if the village ever burns to ground, it's good to know now that you'll probably be the last to show up."

"Maa, Maa. Don't be like that Baa-chan." Naruto commented as he appeared next to Sasuke and placed his elbow on the darker boy's shoulder, earning an annoyed glance in return. "That ANBU must have the tracking skills of a brick if it took him that long to find me."

"That ANBU specializes in tracking, and is ranked directly under Sasuke."

"Well that explains everything." He commented to himself, and laughed as Sasuke shoved his elbow off. Tsunade sighed loudly and wordlessly opened a drawer in her desk. Weaving through a large assortment of files, she slid one of them out and threw it on her desk in front of them. Naruto watched as Sasuke stepped forward and opened the file. Appearing next to him, Naruto observed the stats and information of a random ninja. His place of origin read "Kirigakure", though a red mark reading "Missing" was stamped over it.

The ninja's picture was...rough, to say the least. A man in his late twenties who had shaggy, gray hair and black eyes. A scar was etched crudely above his lip, and a completely inappropriate smile curved up his face. He was the perfect picture of maniacal.

"Damn. Who is he?" Naruto asked, glancing up at Tsunade.

"Yujirou Ono. Missing nin from Kirigakure. He defected twelve years ago."

"'B-Class criminal?' Sasuke asked skeptically, though not bothering to take his eyes off the paper. "I don't know if I'm supposed to be insulted by this or not."

"Yes. Let me explain." Tsunade commented tiredly. "Normally, I wouldn't commission you two to take on a case like his, but he's different. This whole case is different, actually."

"How?" Sasuke asked, flipping to the next page. "He's somewhat dangerous, I give him that. But his history doesn't report any homicides, and he hasn't been seen in over six years."

"Until recently." Tsunade commented, grabbing an opened letter off of her desk and handing it to Sasuke. "This is a letter from Gaara of the Sand, writing to say that their have been reports circulating that this guy's been spotted in all of the major villages in the last month. He's been taking hostages at awkward times of the day, and has been using them to demand ransom money."

"Has he killed any of them?" Naruto asked.

"No. But his actions are becoming increasingly unpredictable, so I've been warned to approach this with a very real seriousness. Not only that, but there have been rumors stating that he was once approached by Akatsuki, but ultimately turned them down."

Naruto felt his body run cold and a distinct dip in Sasuke's chakra at the mention of his dead brother's organization. Sensing that both boys understood the severity of the situation, Tsunade spoke up:

"That's why I'm asking both of you to be on high alert for this guy. He has something dangerous enough that the Akatsuki asked him to join. We can't afford to take this lightly."

"There's no mention of Kekkei Genkai in his records." Sasuke stated, extending the letter back to her.

"That's what scares me. There's little to no information about this guy, which means no one can really prepare for him." She explained, a worry etched on her face that meant this was no joking matter. "The only thing I can really tell you guys is to be ready for anything."

"This guy sounds more hype than anything. Sasuke and I will kick ass on this one." Naruto tried, ignoring the obvious eye-roll from Sasuke.

"Speaking of...Naruto, I need to speak with you privately when this is done."

"Uh..."

"Is that all?" Sasuke asked blankly, interrupting him and directing the focus back to the situation at hand.

"Yes. You're excused, Uchiha." She replied flatly, ignoring his obvious air of smugness. Naruto watched in annoyance as he turned, opened the door wordlessly, and walked away. _"Still mad_." Naruto thought boredly, eyes still lingering on the door.

"He has a right to be." Tsunade replied, filling the stagnant room and seemingly reading his mind.

"Oh _come on_!" He exhaled in frustration, flopping gracelessly into a chair. "Sasuke doesn't let me do anything anymore! He lived so long without fighting in a team that he does it all on his own. I did the right thing, dammit!"

_"You-_" She barked, bracing herself on her desk with both hands and leaning towards him menacingly. "Almost jeopardized the entire mission. You weren't even _trying_ to think rationally, Naruto. Had you not reacted off pure emotion, that mission would have been successful."

"Okay, so I screwed up this time. Can we get past that now?"

"This is the third time it's happened, Naruto. This leads me to believe that you and Sasuke lack the trust that is necessary to sustain a team. I'm going to have to take action if this happens again."

"Okay, okay." Naruto commented in surrender - an indication that he knew he was probably wrong here. Sensing the frustration of the younger boy, Tsunade's eyes softened as she took a seat on the corner of her desk.

"This isn't like you." She commented softly. "What are you so afraid of?"

A sour expression morphed his features.

"That's not a very attractive face." She replied flatly, though sighed loudly when he simply turned his gaze to the adjacent wall. Grabbing his cheeks with her thumb and pointer finger, she led his gaze back to hers.

"He's really not going to break, you know."

"I know." He whispered in a way that meant he really did know, just didn't believe it as much as he should have.

"All I'm saying, is if this reckless thinking develops into a pattern, there will be consequences. You could have been seriously hurt for no reason at all if things panned out the way they should have. you got lucky. If you can't be objective when you work with Sasuke from now on, I'll have to put you on a different team."

"I understand." He replied, twitching his nose as she let go of his face.

"Good."

"Baa-chan?"

"Yes, brat?" She asked, shifting the papers on her desk into a pile.

"Can I stop the injections early?" He asked carefully, wincing as he waited for the answer.

"No." She replied flatly, not bothering to make eye contact.

"Ah...well, it was worth a shot, right?" He chided. "Get it? A shot? Damn, I'm hilarious."

"Indeed." She replied boredly, indicating that it really wasn't funny. Or even worth a shot _without_ the humor.

"Well, this has been fun and all, but I really gotta go, Baa-chan." He replied as he stood up and stretched. "See you soon?"

"Get out, Naruto." She replied through a smile. "Go be productive or something."

She caught the tail-end of his coat sliding through the door as it shut with a click, and she somewhat frowned as the room ran silent.

She had known there would be complications all along when she decided to re-establish Team Seven. There was trauma in their lives that would need a considerable amount of time to gloss over, so she had hoped that this thoughtless abandon that Naruto had acquired for Sasuke was just a phase - one of the "kinks" that would have to be ironed out as they both adjusted to working together again.

At first, their teamwork was flawless, but she hadn't really expected anything different anyway. She had heard tales of their teamwork, so naturally she was neither disappointed nor surprised to find that the stories were true. That state of flawlessness was held for a solid five months of missions, until last month when an "incident" had occurred that rendered Sasuke in the hospital for two weeks. Naruto had taken it especially difficult, but she had theorized that part of it was due to the fear that Sasuke would be put under another coma.

Since then, Naruto's ability to stay rational and objective in their missions was on the rocks and falling steadily all the time. It was Sasuke's job to bring written reports to her about the failed missions, and when asked about their reason for failure, Sasuke conveyed to her clearly that Naruto was to be held responsible for them. She knew, however, that Sasuke's frustration came not from the failed missions, but from Naruto's sheer lack of trust in his ability to stay alive. She also knew, though, that separating the two of them held a level of uncertainty that she couldn't anticipate, but would eventually have to happen if Naruto couldn't keep himself in check.

She sighed.

"Please get over this, Naruto." She exhaled as she swallowed a shot of Saki. "For the good of all of us."

(SCENE CHANGE)

"I don't blame him for being concerned, but he's going to cause more damage than not." Sakura explained as she looked out over Konoha's bridge. The wind rustled her hair and the leaves tumbled at her feet as she and Sai gazed into the setting sun. "Even when we were kids, Sasuke hated to be stifled like that. He doesn't appreciate it."

"According to my research, trauma can dramatically upset the state of one's mental health." Sai replied clinically. "I think Naruto suffered some degree of trauma when Sasuke was put into a coma. No matter what kind of person Sasuke was, Naruto was always able to find him somewhere, somehow. But Naruto couldn't reach him when he was comatose, and that scared him. I believe he might be living in fear that it can happen again."

"Hm." Sakura hummed, silently agreeing with Sai as her thoughts drifted elsewhere. She watched a leaf fall through the air and land gracefully into the orange lake, rippling outward. "You're becoming a regular psychologist, aren't you?" She teased.

"You think?" He asked, a genuine smile spreading on his face.

"Absolutely. You're a hundred times more intuitive than you used to be. I see definite progress." She smiled, covering his hand with her own. A few minutes passed as they both looked out, counting the petals that fell from the Sakura trees.

"So pretty." She commented in wonder.

"Yes, you are."

"Hm?" She asked, glancing at him.

"Nothing." He replied quietly. "It's not important."

(SCENE CHANGE - NARUTO)

Naruto, in all of his graceless glory, was currently lying upside down in a chair with a book in his hands. It was around 9:00 at night, and every light in the Uchiha manor had been turned on. He typically didn't like to be there alone, but only because he was pretty sure he heard the ghostly wails of a hundred dead Uchiha's scolding him for tainting the furniture with his poverty-stricken presence.

"What are you doing here?" Came an annoyed voice followed by the slamming of a door, but Naruto continued to read the book in his hands.

"It says here that the most important aspect of a relationship is trust." He commented factually. "But I think that's bullshit. Communication is the most important thing. Ne, Sasuke?"

"You're holding the book upside down." Sasuke replied flatly, not bothering to spare a glance at the blond who was currently sprawled upside down in his chair. Naruto, who simply glanced at the book in confusion before dropping it sloppily on the nightstand, flipped over and stood up.

"Eh. Minor details."

"And they say education is a dying art."

"Hey! I do all right, and contrary to popular belief, I'm not highly educated."

"Glad I was sitting down for that." Sasuke replied sarcastically, earning a pouty expression from Naruto who sighed loudly and stood up.

"Okay, okay. You're angry. I get it. What do I have to do to earn your forgiveness?"

"Go home."

"...that's not gonna' happen."

"Neither is this conversation."

"Oh _come on_, Sasuke. Don't be a prick. I'm trying, here. Can't you just talk to me?"

And with that, Sasuke abruptly stopped and faced him with a coldness that meant there was no humor in anything about this topic.

"What else is there to say? We've had this conversation before, and you don't listen to shit. At this point, words aren't going to get the point across. I'm not afraid to take action."

"So what are you gonna' do, huh?" Naruto asked through a scoff. "Request to be put on a different team? That's hilarious, Sasuke. Really." Naruto explained, though when the Uchiha merely gazed at him in total rigidity, he felt Sasuke's words frost over with seriousness.

"Oh." Naruto whispered, suddenly feeling like a child who had just had their hand slapped by the teacher for being unruly. "Yeah. I see."

A few minutes seemed to pass as Naruto waited for Sasuke to say something, but when the Uchiha merely brushed past him, he felt himself reach out and grab the darker boy's arm.

"I'm sorry." He replied with sobriety. "I won't do it again."

"Yes you will. And next time, you're going to get hurt."

". . .okay, so maybe I will, but-"

Before he could continue, he felt Sasuke twist out of his grasp.

"Is this a joke to you, Naruto? What part of this do you not understand?" Sasuke spat, and Naruto wondered if the Sharingan would automatically trigger in response to the anger. Naruto could tell by Sasuke's expression that he was expecting some kind of answer, and his eyes narrowed in annoyance when one never came. "Go home, Naruto."

But before he could brush past him, Naruto reflexively grabbed the front of Sasuke's shirt, and pulled him into a kiss without the slightest of permission.

Sasuke resisted at first, but eventually backed down when Naruto spread his lips apart with his tongue and moaned softly into the Uchiha's mouth. It must have triggered something, because Sasuke's previous resistance abruptly changed into something more aggressive, and Naruto felt himself slam into the wall as Sasuke pinned his arms above his head.

He would never admit it to himself, but he actually loved kissing Sasuke. It was one of his favorite pass-times, and he found that it never got old. He took pride in the fact, however, that any and all of Sasuke's barriers could be broken down with kissing. He whispered Sasuke's name in between the kiss -something he had eventually realized was a huge turn on for Sasuke- and somewhat winced as the kissing became more desperate. He wiggled uncomfortably as Sasuke crushed him into the wall, all while digging his fingernails into the blonds forearms.

"Sasuke, wai-" He tried, but was cut off as Sasuke covered his mouth with his own, realizing just how different this time was. Finally getting his arm free from Sasuke's grasp, he peeled himself away from the Uchiha who could only stare in confusion and frustration at the blond's sudden retreat. They stared at each other for what seemed a small eternity, the only sound being the heaviness of their breathing.

"I really scared you. Didn't I." Naruto asked through labored breaths, though it was more of a statement than a question. He licked his swollen lips as Sasuke's countenance flickered, but settled into a weird expression that Naruto couldn't immediately identify.

"You should go." Sasuke replied darkly, and Naruto felt himself run rigid at the unspoken affirmation in that answer.

"Yeah." He replied halfheartedly, because he really wanted more of a resolution than this. Walking to the door, he spoke up one last time. "I really am sorry. I didn't know. I didn't think..." He heard himself trail off. "I'm sorry, Sasuke."

"I know." Came the reply, though it lacked the eye contact that Naruto needed.

"I'll see you tomorrow for training, right?" He asked hopefully.

"Fine."

"Bye." He commented, not hearing the curse that escaped Sasuke's lips as he shut the door.

(SCENE CHANGE - FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER)

Naruto, who was currently walking back to his apartment in the darkness of night, was currently trying to piece together the puzzle of what had just happened fifteen minutes before. He was mulling it over in his head and trying to understand it in the most objective way possible -which apparently was something he wasn't able to be, lately- and he came to the conclusion that he really had scared Sasuke, and he didn't know how he was supposed to feel about it.

"Ugh...shit." He whined, massaging his temple to fade the beginnings of a headache. This was too much thinking for one day. "I'd do it again, bastard. You can't blame me for...not for this. Not this time. You're finally here to stay. And you can't blame me for trying to keep it that way. No, I'd do it again. A hundred times over."

"You sound so mental right now." Came a voice, and Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin. Peering through the darkness, he saw the bright orange hair of his favorite female pupil Moegi.

"What?" He asked dumbly.

"I said you sound mental. What, with talking to yourself like that and all."

"Oh. Yeah." He commented, giving credit where credit was due, considering he probably did look bat-shit insane. "Why are you out here this late?"

"Konohamaru and I train at this time every night. I was walking back to my house right now."

"Ah." Came the reply. "And by 'training' you mean _kissing_, right?" He teased, and watched in pure joy as the red-head took on six shades of red.

"No! Ugh. Just...never mind." She pouted, and he ruffled her hair. She may have been a young woman now, but she and the other two would always be his dopey little groupies from his genin days.

"Well tell Konohamaru that I've got my eye on him." Naruto chided, and this time she backhanded him upside the head.

"I'll tell him nothing!" She fumed.

"All the same." Naruto commented through a smile. Before she could reply, however, a rush of wind passed by, and both Shinobi were rendered immobile by the presence of a weird chakra staining the air. She glanced at Naruto nervously, who only stared into the dark city.

"Did you feel that?" She asked, bracing herself into a defense position as her hand hovered over a kunai.

"Yeah." He commented seriously, scouting the rooftops for any sign of foul play. They waited for a few minutes in deafening silence, only to realize that the chakra signature had all but faded into oblivion.

"That was really weird." She replied, subconsciously tracing her eyes down the alleyways in between the buildings.

"Yeah. I'm gonna' walk you home, Moegi." Naruto replied, not taking his eyes off of the entrance to the Forest of Death. The last of the chakra trail had dissolved into that area. "Let's get out of here." He explained as they both turned down the street and kept their guard on high alert.

(END CHAPTER ONE)

So that's it for the first chapter! I already have chapters two and three outlined, so stick around! Thank you all sooooo much!


	2. Chapter 2

_"We're going down, and you can see it too. We're going down, and you know that we're doomed. My dear, we're slow-dancing in a burning room." -John Mayer_

"So...cold..." Naruto whispered through chattering teeth as both hands cupped around his mouth.

It was now 5:00 in the morning, and Naruto found himself huddling into his jacket through the midnight blue of morning as he made his way to Sasuke's complex. Between the crunch of the frozen grass under his feet, his growling stomach and the thoughts of last night's conversation with Sasuke buzzing around in his mind, Naruto admit to himself that mornings should never contain this much noise.

_"Probably still mad_." Naruto acknowledged, referencing he and Sasuke's drama the night before. "_Really not all my fault though, you ass. You don't let me help anymore."_

After last night's heated confrontation, Naruto lay sleepless in his bed, trying to come up with some explanation as to why Sasuke didn't rely on him in the way that he used to. No, he wasn't naive. He never expected for their teamwork to bounce back immediately after a four year hiatus, but he didn't expect it to be as complicated as it was. Their teamwork was the most clinical and emotionless thing about their relationship. Sasuke _should_ have embraced that with open arms, being clinical and emotionless himself. But they couldn't shake the damage off of this area. In all honesty, he probably shouldn't have expected anything at all, because Sasuke was still Sasuke after all this time. Sasuke was still Sasuke, which meant the unknown of his motives was still there. He should have learned not to expect anything at all.

"It's your fault, too." Came a sudden voice, jolting Naruto out of his thoughts. Wincing through the darkness, he recognized Sai's familiar shady stance leaning casually against a tree. "But you probably already know that."

"It's too early for this, Sai. You know I can't handle your weirdness until after 9:00." Naruto commented dryly, eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"But still." Sai replied blankly, pushing himself off of the tree. "You know I'm right."

"...Sakura told you?" He asked carefully, eyes averting childishly to the side.

"Yes." Came the reply, and Sai's smile fizzled into a grim line. "Though I wish I would have heard it from you."

"It...wasn't a big deal." Naruto commented weakly. He continued walking by, only to have the darker boy fall in stride beside him. "I was going to tell you, but we just got back the other day, and I know you've been busy with Shikamaru, so..."

"That's the weakest explanation you've had to date, Naruto, and you've had some impressively pitiful explanations over the years."

"Tch." Naruto spat, shoving a tree branch out of the way with his forearm. "I don't know what she told you, but it really wasn't that big of a de-"

"He doesn't appreciate it." Came the interruption, and Naruto could only stop in his tracks and stare in bewilderment at his partner.

"Uh..."

"That's what Sakura said, anyway. She said Sasuke doesn't appreciate that kind of protection. She said you're going to stifle him."

"I...know." Naruto replied in a slight tone of surrender, because he really didn't have a defense for himself. He was wrong, and Sai was right. They all were, really. He _was_ being irrational in every way possible, but it wasn't unjustified. It was...different. "I'll get over this, Sai. I just need some time, I guess. Time to allow things to settle down again."

"You don't have that kind of luxury, Naruto. If you keep this up, there's a high chance that you'll get hurt or killed before the 'time' you speak of has a chance to be enough. If that kunai _had_ pierced your flesh, you would have been killed in half the time it normally takes. You don't have the Kyuubi to play God with your healing anymore, Naruto. You've lost that kind of immortality."

An awkward silence fell between the two, the only sound being the crackle of frosty grass beneath their feet as the midnight blue was replaced with the orange and pinks of sunrise, beckoning Naruto to fall into annoyed and unwilling contemplation.

If he were to be honest about all of this, he might admit to himself that he was light-years more concerned with Sasuke's life than his own, and that **_was_** the problem here. Point blank. But no one seemed to take into consideration the level of sacrifice that he -that _all_- of them had invested into Sasuke's return. So many people had channeled their life, spirit, tears, anger, love and souls into providing a second chance for Sasuke Uchiha. And by extension, a second chance for Team Seven. Yes, he knew he was the wrong one here. He knew he was being the unreasonable one. But surely every one could see how incomprehensibly rare and impossible this second chance was. Surely they could understand why he was unwilling to let Sasuke leave in any way at all.

"Not to mention, you're only imagining how _you_ would feel if something happened to Sasuke. Have you considered the reverse?"

"I told Sasuke once that he never needed me to keep on living, and we both know that that hasn't changed."

"And you would rather him merely walk through life just existing, so long as he has a heart beat?"

"I'd _rather_ us _both_ be alive and well. The same goes for you, Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei and all the others. If I have to take a chance on my own life to make sure it stays that way, then I will."

"...so you're just being selfish. That's all you're really trying to say here."

"Did you come here just to blast me out about this?" Naruto spat, rounding on Sai. "Damn, all I need is for the ghost of the first Hokage to appear before me and bitch me out, and then I'll have heard it from _everyone_."

"I'm glad you're okay." Sai commented then, disrupting Naruto's monologue and earning him a confused expression. "Really. Please don't keep this up, Naruto. You'll regret this is you..." He trailed off then, but the slight desperation in which Sai said it brought a real guilt to Naruto, and he couldn't help but smile. Sai somewhat jolted as Naruto placed his arm around his pale shoulders.

"Walk with me, Sai."

"We've been walking Naruto."

"Ah shit." Naruto then cursed quietly, and Sai turned to find Naruto stopped and reaching into his pockets in search of something. He saw a flash of silver through Naruto's fingers as he pulled one of Tsunade's pre-prepared syringes out of a purple cloth. "I totally forgot to do this. No wonder my head is killing me."

Leaning against the tree, Sai watched in morbid curiosity as Naruto flicked the end of the syringe, sending a small droplet of liquid into the air. Sai braced himself on the tree and felt a few beads of sweat form on his hairline as the glint of the needle flashed in the sun. He swallowed loudly, figuring that Naruto must have heard it due to the confused expression that Naruto was sending his way.

"You don't look good, Sai. Is...something wrong?" He asked casually as he pulled his shirt over his head, threw it on the ground, and shivered from the cold.

"I...n-nothing at all." Sai commented, distracted as Naruto scouted a spot on his stomach with his fingers.

"Geez, Sai. You look scared shitless right now. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were afraid of need-"

He stopped then, and Sai's eyes narrowed in caution at the large smile that curved up Naruto's face and into the blue of his eyes.

"You're scared of needles." Naruto stated, not bothering to hide his bubbling laughter. "A Jounin that was trained under ROOT, and you're scared of _needles_."

"That's...ridiculous." Sai tried to say, though it sounded somewhat weak due to the wave of nausea that washed over him at the sight of such a large needle. If he hadn't felt so ill, he would have been able to formulate some sort of defense for himself.

"You know what? I think you should inject this." Naruto giggled, and Sai felt his heart skip a beat.

"...what?"

"Come on. You should know how to do stuff like this."

"No."

"What if I'm ever unconscious and you're the only person around who can give this to me? Are you saying you wouldn't do it?"

"Well...no..." Sai trailed off.

"Then take it. Show me you can do this." Naruto smiled mischievously, holding the syringe out to the darker boy. Shaking, Sai reached for the syringe, but only because he knew that Naruto had a real point. Normally, he wouldn't entertain Naruto in such a childish way, but the medicine inside of the syringe really was the only thing keeping Naruto's body from suffering the withdrawal symptoms. It would be bad if he weren't able to administer the shot if Naruto were ever compromised.

Slowly dropping to his knees in front of Naruto, Sai shakily held the syringe to his tanned stomach.

"Where?" He asked, his jaw locked tight from nervousness.

"Right here." Naruto said as he pointed to a spot just above his right hip. There were other small track marks, so Sai angled the syringe in between two of them and looked up at Naruto's obnoxiously amused face.

"Here?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive." He smirked.

Steadying his hand and sharpening his vision, Sai breathed deeply before plunging the needle into Naruto's skin and draining the liquid. He heard a slight hiss from Naruto, to which he responded by jerking the accursed object out of his skin and tossing it on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Sai asked, worry etched in his features.

"Yeah. It's a big needle." Naruto explained. "But you did it! You see? That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"No." Sai replied as a smile spread lightly across his face. "I guess it wasn't. I could definitely do that again."

"Do _what_ again?" Came a dark voice from the left, and Naruto and Sai turned to find an obviously displeased Sasuke glaring daggers in their direction. "What the hell is going on here?"

"What's wrong with you?" Naruto asked offended. "Sai was just giving me a-" He stopped, however, when he saw that Sai was on his knees, sweating, and holding his face just a few inches in front of his crotch. Also taking into consideration that he himself was shirtless and the last part of their conversation could have been interpreted horribly wrong, it hit Naruto why Sasuke was so ill.

"Uh...It's not what you think." Naruto explained. "He was just helping me."

"With _what_?" Sasuke asked sharply. He narrowed his eyes in annoyance as Sai stood up and dusted himself off.

"With his daily injection. He forgot to take it this morning, and he suggested I should learn how in case he were ever injured. Nothing more." Sai replied factually. Sasuke sent Naruto an unamused expression, beckoning a casual shrug from the blond. Even though Sasuke and Sai's relationship was significantly better, there was still room for...improvement.

"It's true." Naruto replied as he grabbed the syringe off the floor and tossed it to Sasuke. "See for yourself."

"Fine." Sasuke replied boredly as he tossed it back to Naruto. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah. See you later, Sai!" Naruto beamed as he snatched his shirt off the ground and appeared next to Sasuke. "Keep your hands off of Sakura!"

Sai would have fired an insult back if his stomach wasn't still doing cartwheels.

(SCENE CHANGE - SASUKE , KAKASHI AND NARUTO)

"That's good, Sasuke, but remember not to get too close to your opponent." Kakashi commented as the clash of kunai rang through the air. "If there were ever a reason you couldn't use the Sharingan, you would have to fall back to a greater distance. Keep that in mind."

It was now 4:00 in the afternoon, and both boys had been training under Kakashi for most of the day. Because they had both been recognized as an official two-man team, it was customary for them to train together at least three times a week. As luck would have it, Tsunade designated Kakashi to oversee this training, due to the fact that he was taking on a new team of genin and would not be going on external missions for the next year.

This training, however, was different from most of their weekly training sessions. Ever since Tsunade had received word of Yuujirou Ono and his rumored Kekkei Genkai, she had ordered that all shinobi with a bloodline limit be put through a type of training that taught them to rely less on their Kekkei Genkai. The only down-side to possessing a Kekkei Genkai was the fact that the shinobi who had it tended to rely on theirs so much, that they would allow all other areas of their fighting styles to corrode and fade away.

"The Sharingan is not an indestructible tool, Sasuke. Don't rely on it as if it is." Kakashi commented as he observed his two former students fighting. "I had to learn that long ago."

"Yeah, Sasuke." Naruto chided as he dodged a kick. "How does it feel to not be able to cheat your way through a battle?"

"Says the one who _borrowed_ chakra from the most powerful demon in existence." Sasuke replied through labored breaths.

"...of course, if Naruto can't learn to go more than ten minutes without sacrificing himself, it's really not going to matter what you guys do." Kakashi commented, and Naruto cursed quietly under his breath.

Kakashi must have rekindled the anger within Sasuke, because his Sharingan flickered briefly for a second until Sasuke disabled it, replacing it with the familiar onyx orbs. Naruto would have called Kakashi out for his _complete_ lack of tact with this subject, but he also knew that Kakashi was provoking Sasuke for a reason. He was testing the boundaries of Sasuke's control. (And probably punishing Naruto for what he had done in their failed mission.)

"Your Sharingan is far too intertwined with your emotions, Sasuke. That can be a doubled-edged sword if you're not careful. Weapons should never be conditional." Kakashi explained, not bothering to take his eyes away from the Icha Icha book he held as the clash of metal and dirt rained around him.

With bruises and cuts all over, Naruto and Sasuke found themselves both too fatigued to put up anymore of a quality battle. Their movements were increasing in sloppiness, and their decisions were becoming less and less informed. Kakashi must have noticed this, because he slowly stood up from his crouch and grabbed Naruto's leg mid-air as it aimed for Sasuke's head.

"That's enough for today, boys. What have we learned?"

"That Sasuke's fighting style is utter bullshit without those loaded dice he calls eyes." Naruto said through a smirk, prompting Sasuke to aim a punch for his face that was quickly intercepted by Kakashi.

"I wouldn't talk too big, Naruto. Sasuke wasn't able to use his most powerful asset, and it still ended in a tie between both of you. Realistically, you should have come out on top."

Naruto's face fell into a somewhat pouty expression as Sasuke threw a confident smirk back at him.

"...likewise, Sasuke, I can tell you've relied far too much on the Sharingan. It shows in your lack of endurance when compared with Naruto's. It doesn't matter how powerful your bloodline trait is if you can't even outlast the fight. You both need improvement." Kakashi commented boredly as he slapped his book. "Anyway, I've got a new team of Genin to fail, so I'll see you guys later tonight."

"I know we're your favorites, but don't be too hard on them!" Naruto yelled at his Sensei's retreating figure.

"Hai, hai." Kakashi replied with a wave of his arm. Silence fell over the two as the retreat of their teacher left nothing but the sounds of their heavy breathing and the billowing dust.

"So..what do we do now?" Naruto asked out loud. Both boys stared at each other until their mouths curled into smirks at nearly the same time.

"I don't know about you, teme, but a tie isn't good enough for me." Naruto chided as he cracked his knuckles and broke down into a defense position.

"Me either." Sasuke replied through a smirk, and Naruto jumped backwards as Sasuke flew at him with a punch.

A few minutes and a painful under-swept kick to the ankles later, Naruto landed brutally on the ground with a sharp exhale of breath. Sasuke's obnoxiously proud face loomed over him, silhouetted against the light of day.

"Does this mean I win?" Sasuke asked cockily, knee digging into Naruto's chest as he pushed his wrists into the ground.

Considering his position, Naruto bitterly acknowledged that he was too tired and devoid of any real adrenaline to tackle Sasuke. So, in the typical Naruto way, he decided to throw the Uchiha off by simply sitting up and kissing Sasuke on the mouth. It must have surprised him, because Sasuke dropped his guard, allowing Naruto to jump up and pin him to the ground in the same way - reversing their positions.

"Not even close." Naruto smirked as he stared down at Sasuke. His long ebony locks were beautifully plastered to his pale skin, and his shirt was slightly torn at the collar. Sasuke's face scrunched in disapproval as Naruto licked his lips and smiled. "Not gonna' lie, Sasuke. This view is sexy as hell."

Before he could reply, however, he felt himself being flipped back into his original position on the dirt as Sasuke lumbered ominously over him.

"Don't get used to it." He replied, and Naruto admit blissful defeat by allowing his head to lay back against the dirt. He squinted against the glare of the sun. "Stop squinting. It makes your eyes look stupid."

"Sai once told me that he could spend his entire life trying to create the color of my eyes, and he would never be able to. Maybe I'll look at _him_ like this since _he_ thinks they're beautiful."

Although he said it to get a cheap rise out of the Uchiha, Naruto was somewhat surprised when Sasuke bent down, and kissed him gently on the mouth. Once. Twice. Three times. And then after the fourth, he looked back into Naruto's hazy eyes.

"Did he ever tell you that while he was kissing you?" Sasuke asked breathily as his lips hovered lightly over Naruto's.

"Just once." Naruto replied, bristling as Sasuke's body ran rigid on top of him. The Uchiha sat back up and peered at him through furious and calculating eyes. "Calm down. I was just joking." Naruto laughed. "So...I take it you've forgiven me?"

"Hn." Came the monotonous reply, but it was good enough for Naruto.

He felt Sasuke relax back down onto him as he reached up and combed through the black hair with his fingers. This always seemed to help Sasuke relax, but when Naruto asked Sakura why, she said it was probably because it was something Sasuke's mother used to do.

With Sasuke pressing him into the ground, Naruto felt himself get hard as Sasuke began unconsciously rocking against him. He ignored it, partly because Sasuke was hard as well, but mostly because he didn't want to give it any more thought. Thought always led to conclusions, and he wasn't comfortable drawing one yet. Not about this. You see, these moments always ended up like this.

Contrary to popular belief by most of the Rookie Nine, he and Sasuke hadn't actually had sex yet. It wasn't that they were scared to, and it most _certainly_ wasn't because they didn't want to. It was actually something they never talked about, though Naruto resolved that it was probably because it was a ridiculously profound state of trust that he didn't know if they had reached, especially when he considered how shaky their teamwork had been lately. There were moments of heated passion when things would always start slipping out of control, but they both would always go to bed or move on, leaving the issue of sex as an unspoken phantom.

And just like always, Sasuke sprung off of him like he was made of static - shaking away his labored breathing and lust-clouded eyes. Naruto stood up too, leaving this moment in the past with all of the other ones. After all, one of these days, they _would _both lose control. It was inevitable: and he didn't know how to handle it.

"Are you coming tonight? Sakura and Kakashi really want you to be there." Naruto replied breathlessly, running a hand through his dusty hair.

"Yeah. I'll be there. Just meet up at my house." Sasuke replied, inwardly re-establishing his composure and boundaries.

"All right. See you later." Naruto commented, though before he could turn to leave, he felt his chest swell with something that needed to be said. "And Sasuke?"

"What."

"Sai and I, we never..." He tried to explain. "...he's a really good friend, but it's never been more than that. Just...so you know. You can trust me."

Sasuke didn't say anything, but Naruto took his slight smirk as all of the affirmation he needed. Both parting ways, Naruto decided that the first thing he would do upon returning to his house is take an ice-cold shower.

(SCENE CHANGE - THREE HOURS LATER)

With all of the dirt and sweat washed off of him, Naruto made his way to downtown Konoha with a spring in his step and a smile on his face. He was meeting Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura for their weekly get-together. The sun was now set and the streets were emptying themselves of noise, color and people.

Despite the animosity in he and Sasuke's conversation the night before, Naruto felt that he and Sasuke had garnered a new level of trust at some point today. He didn't know when and he didn't know how, but something had been transcended. Or atoned for, or forgiven. Or a wrong had been made right, or...or _something_. But whatever it was, it made him happy beyond containment, because this was the progress that needed to happen.

As he made his way further into town, he was met with the murky shadow of someone approaching him in the distance. Squinting his eyes around the figure, he saw the diluted shade of orange hair that belonged to Moegi.

"Hey Moegi! Here to 'train' with Konohamaru?" He chided as she approached, though when her eyes betrayed no indication of humor, he suddenly felt uneasy. With a strong burst of wind scraping the leaves across the pavement, he observed her steely eyes and grim facial expression as she appeared in front of him.

"What's wrong?" He whispered lowly, suddenly feeling like this situation demanded a level of seriousness greater than what he had feared. She remained stoic and speechless, though her eyes begged for him to draw the conclusion. It was then, however, that an acidic chakra wafted on the wind, and he cringed when he realized that it was the same chakra that had been there the last time he met her. When the manic picture of Yuujirou Ono flash across his mind, he felt his stomach drop, because this circumstance fit the bill for what Tsunade said he had been reported doing. He scouted for hostages, and Moegi was probably his victim this time. He had been observing her since last night.

"You're being followed." He whispered lowly, and a slight nod of the head indicated that he was right. "Show me with your eyes where he is." He said tightly, conscious to avoid making it look like they were in any way suspicious.

With a quick flick of her eyes to a building on the other end of the street, Naruto placed his arm around her and began walking in the opposite direction.

"Act like we're a couple." Naruto commented through a fake smile, wrapping his arm around her waist. She leaned her head against his shoulder and ran her fingers up and down his back. He didn't have any real intention of leaving this guy alone, but his top priority was getting Moegi to a safer place, because this was out of her league. This guy had once been considered by Akatsuki. This was too big for her. This was too big for the village, really, and he didn't know how to balance the process of keeping her safe, and alerting the others to come and help.

They made it a total of thirty feet, however, when both of them were rendered completely immobile as a black shadow dropped in front of them, revealing a small section of shaggy white hair sticking out through an opening of a black cloak.

"Yuujirou Ono." Naruto asked lowly, only to be answered with a sick string of laughter as the cloaked person lifted his head, revealing half of an insanely deviant smile.

"In the flesh."


	3. Chapter 3

**_ "It's not a silly little moment, It's not the storm before the calm. This is the deep and dying breath of this love that we've been working on."_**

"We don't want any trouble." Naruto explained carefully, his grip tightening around Moegi's waist.

"Oh really? That _is_ a shame." Yujirou drawled drunkenly through a laugh. "Because I sure do."

"What do you want?" Moegi barked, earning a sadistic grin from the offending male.

"Careful, sunshine. There's a time and place for everything, and this isn't it." Yujirou slurred devilishly while slinking towards them. Stepping back, Moegi turned to recognize a pointed glare in Naruto's eyes that she swore meant something significant. "Wouldn't want you saying the wrong thing."

She felt Naruto's arm slide out from around her waist.

"Hey, if it's the girl you want, you can have her." Naruto commented in feigned terror as he placed his hand on her lower back and shoved her forward. She somewhat gasped in fear, turning to beg Naruto for an explanation on such a betrayal. "She always was a poor substitute for my ex-girlfriend." He explained, and a wave of realization fell over her.

She understood.

"You _bastard_." She whispered furiously, stumbling as Yujirou grabbed her ponytail and yanked her backwards into him. Her hands instinctively flew to her scalp as she hissed in pain. Her thoughts were interrupted, though, as a flash of silver flew past her right eye and pressed warningly into her neck. Naruto's face remained blank as the grip on her hair tightened.

"How can I be sure?" Yujirou taunted, running the kunai delicately along her throat as a thin string of blood beaded. "How can I know that this isn't complete bullshit?"

"You're just going to have to trust me." Naruto explained factually, though his eyes betrayed his voice.

"I can't accept that." Yujirou laughed. Moegi winced as a crude sawing sound filled her ears as shreds of her hair fell in heaps around her. "You're going to have to prove to me that you and this cute little princeaa aren't conspiring at this moment against me." He chided boredly as he continued to saw through her hair with the kunai. She briefly saw Naruto's knuckles run white as the sickening sound of her hair tie was cut through.

Naruto knew that Sakura had once been in a situation very similar to this.

"What do you want me to do?" Naruto asked tightly, eyes narrowing as her hair rained around her ankles. "I'll do whatever, just spare my life." And with that, Yujirou stopped to briefly considered his next move. As if realizing for the first time that he even held a kunai, a smile crept up his face as he proceeded to toss it in Naruto's direction.

"Cut her throat." Yuujirou said as the kunai landed in Naruto's fingers. "And make it quick so she doesn't scream."

Terrified, Moegi watched as Naruto considered the logistics behind what he needed to do next, and she prayed to any and all of the gods that she understood what he had been trying to tell her. _"She always was a poor substitute for my ex-girlfriend."_ She heard those words ring loud and clear through her skull.

"Fine." Naruto said, and she heard a disgustingly pleased laugh dribble through Yujirou's lips.

"Perfect." He said, wrenching her neck backwards and blowing a piece of hair off her shoulder as if to proudly display the target area. She gulped loudly as Naruto stepped slowly forward with the most withdrawn eyes she had ever seen.

It happened faster than anything she had ever seen, and suddenly she realized how small her world had been - how juvenile and pitiful any and all of her fears had been up until this point. She honestly thought she had seen horror, but she realized with the flash of the moon on Naruto's kunai flying at her that she had never seen anything at all. Ever.

Not even once.

And as soon as the kunai was supposed to rip through the skin of her throat, Yujirou let out a strangled yell as a tree log fell to his feet; smoke billowing and burning through his eyes as the log clattered on the ground.

"Go!" Naruto yelled to Moegi as she braced herself on the roof beside them. He observed her cropped orange hair and silently thanked her for being smart enough to understand what he had been implying all along:

Substitution jutsu.

"Go Moeg-" But before he could continue, the kunai he had previously attacked her with abruptly plunged three inches into his shoulder as Yuujirou tackled him into side of a building. His head cracked against the wall and he hissed violently, blinking the stars out of his vision.

"Naruto!" Moegi screamed, but he sent her a brief and desperate glare.

"Go get Sasuke and Kakashi!" He shouted as the blood from his shoulder dribbled off of his fingers and onto the pavement. "Hurry!" He bellowed as he caught a glimpse of her figure dissolving into thin air as Yujirou kicked him in the ribs, sending him hurling into the ground.

"You're a deceptive piece of shit, aren't you?" Yujirou ground out in fury, but not before placing the heel of his foot on Naruto's face. "Fuckers like you who play games don't deserve to be trained in the art of fighting."

"Bullshit." Naruto commented weakly as he spit blood out of his mouth and stood up. "Sounds to me like I pissed you off. I guess the Akatsuki didn't miss out on much, did they?"

But before he could respond, he whimpered loudly as the same kunai tore into the side of his left thigh.

"All talk and no skill to back it up." Yujirou commented. "Akatsuki wasn't good enough for me, but I don't have to explain it to a bitch like you. Guess I have it easy toni-!" He tried to say as one of Naruto's Kage clones ran up from behind and trapped him in a fatal headlock. He easily burst the clone with one jab of his elbow, but not before the real Naruto kicked his legs out from underneath him and tackled him into the ground.

_"Where's his Kekkei Genkai?"_ Naruto calculated as he struggled to pin him into the Naruto could see was white hair and pale skin flashing wildly across his eyes as he formulated his next move.

Glancing to the side, Naruto spotted the bloodied kunai lying on the ground. Grasping for it as the older man writhed beneath him, he was abruptly shoved onto his back as Yujirou slammed the top of his knee into Naruto's chest. A painful scream ripped through his throat as his ribs shattered under the skin. Rolling to the side, Naruto finally fingered the kunai and, swiping it at the older man's face, tore a deep gash into his cheek.

_"I've got to get to a safer place."_ Naruto thought as Yujirou erupted in fury. He scanned the available buildings and spotted a large, warehouse type building that housed most of the villages spare weapons. It was a building that was only used in times of war, so there was a high chance it would be empty.

"Come and get me, bastard!" Naruto yelled as he spit into the older man's face and bounced backwards. Sprinting towards the warehouse, he inwardly sighed in relief as Yujirou sprinted right after him with an anger and intent-to-kill that Naruto had never seen before. This guy didn't have to have a Kekkei Genkai to be considered dangerous, for his blood-lust and anger were enough to hold their own.

The pain in his chest and shoulder rendered Naruto into a state of breathless nausea, but he continued to sprint forward as Yujirou followed behind. Skidding to a halt in front of the warehouse, Naruto wasted no time in kicking down the door as Yujirou slammed into the back of him. He peered into his face and felt his stomach drop as an inky, black tar dribbled out of his mouth.

"What the...?" He whispered aloud, prompting a smile to curve on Yujirou's face.

"You're going to wish you had never done that."

(SCENE CHANGE - SASUKE, KAKASHI AND SAKURA)

"Where is he?" Sakura asked impatiently as she fiddled boredly with her sleeve. "I know he's usually late, but it's never taken him this long before."

Sakura, Kakashi and Sasuke were currently sitting at the usual ramen stand where they would meet every other Friday. Now, it was customary for Naruto to be late. He was a shining example of how **_not_** to be punctual, but he usually arrived within thirty minutes after the designated time. But as she, Kakashi and Sasuke had been there for close to two hours with no show of the wearisome blond, she found her stomach begin to churn with the pain of worry.

...which must have been evident, considering the annoyed expression Sasuke sent her as she nervously tapped her fingernails across the counter.

"What if he forgot to take his injection and something happened?" She tried, earning an annoyed expression from Sasuke and a vacant response from Kakashi who currently held his face into an Icha book.

"He's fine. Probably fell asleep and just forgot to wake up in time." Sasuke commented boredly, though Sakura was no fool to his increasing OCD-ness. In the last ten minutes, he had absent-mindedly torn three napkins to shreds- a habit that Sasuke had come to develop over the past year when he became nervous.

"But you know he forgets to take them. I just..." She stopped abruptly then, earning the attention from both of her male companions. "I just have a bad feeling about this."

"Sakura-" Kakashi began in exhaustion, but was interrupted as she cut him off.

"No, I know I'm always jumping to bad conclusions, but this time I have a bad feeling." She explained, her eyebrows nitting in genuine concern. "It's not like him to be this late and leave no explanation for why. This isn't right. This is..."

But before she could continue, all three of them glanced at each other as the crowds of people walking by began to whisper loudly and move to the sides as someone carved their way through them. She knew it had to be serious when Sasuke stood up and Kakashi put the book down. After all, if the security of the village had been threatened, it was directly dependent upon Sasuke to address the situation.

Turning, Sakura gasped as Moegi burst through the crowd and braced herself on her knees in front of them. She was breathing heavily, and her hair fell in choppy strands around her face as the blood on her neck dried and cracked.

"Moegi? Kakashi asked, his surprise somewhat muffled by the black mask.

"Moegi!" Sakura exclaimed as she stood up and grabbed a piece of the younger girl's hair between her thumb and pointer finger. "What happened?"

"He needs help!"Moegi barked through her labored breaths, and Sakura could tell she was on the verge of tears. "You have to help him!"

"Calm down." Sakura consoled as she braced her arms on the younger girls shoulders and tried to console her. "Who needs help?"

"Naruto! You have to help him! He was attacked!"

Sakura felt her spine run rigid as the breath in her chest seemed to dissolve completely. She didn't dare look at Sasuke, but her ears were suddenly filled with the pounding of her heart-beat and the whispers of the people around them falling into panic.

"We-we were both attacked! In the Eastern training grounds!" Moegi tried to say as the tears began to spill over her mouth and warp her words. "Please, you have to go! He's bleeding!"

"Who attacked you?" Sakura asked as the girl's cries became more audible. She was struggling to keep her own emotions in check, opting instead to put on her most rational persona possible. The last thing they needed was for widespread panic to erupt in the middle of a populated area.

"I don't know! Naruto knew his name, but he told me to come get Sasuke-san and Kakashi-san!" She said, briefly glancing at them before turning back to Sakura and crying. "I didn't want to leave him there but he _told_ me to come! He told me to get help!"

"What was his name." Sasuke interrupted, and Sakura almost flinched at the coldness in his voice.

"I-I don't know, Yujirou or something. Just go! Please help hi-!" Before she could say another word, Sakura caught a brief glimpse of Sasuke's Sharingan flash wildly before his figure shot off into the night sky, leaving the panicked whispers of the crowd behind him as the dishes on the counter shook from the send-off. A puff of smoke beside her indicated that Kakashi had departed as well.

Standing up to face the crowd, she spoke up in authority:

"Alert the Hokage of isolated distress! We have a possible S-Class Criminal in our midst! You all know what to do!" Sakura shouted at the crowd of people who instantly erupted in noise and movement with children being grabbed off the ground by mothers and fathers. Turning to the younger girl, Sakura spoke up softly.

"Moegi, will you show me the way?" She asked, seriousness replacing her previous shock.

"Yes."

"Let's go."

And with that, both girl disappeared into the night.

(SCENE CHANGE - NARUTO)

"You're going to wish you had never done that." Yujirou smirked as the black tar dribbled out of his mouth and onto the front of his shirt. He currently had Naruto pinned to the ground as he sat defiantly on top of the younger boy's aching chest.

Naruto watched a drop of the tar fall onto his shirt, earning a sick laugh from Yujirou that bared a revolting set of blackened teeth.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" He chided, rubbing some of the tar between his thumb and middle finger.

"Like hell." Naruto ground out as he winced in pain from the wight on his broken chest.

"Nice choice." Yujirou commented as he wiped the black tar on Naruto's cheek and scanned the room. "Plenty of weapons to fuck you up with."

Naruto could only whimper as the beginnings of nausea waved through him from the blood loss in his shoulder. His vision was spotty, and he couldn't distinguish the older man's features under the throbbing and pulsing lights. As he turned his face to the side, however, he noticed that the smudge of tar on his cheek had completely hardened.

_"Sasuke, where the hell are you?"_ He thought, trying to come up with his next move. The room was filled with kunai, shuriken, explosives and paper bombs, but his body was failing too quickly to make adequate use of it all.

A small moan escaped his throat, prompting Yujirou to look down at him and smile pitifully. Sliding another kunai out of his shirt, he began to flip the kunai playfully around in his fingers.

"Hm. What should I carve into this beautiful body of yours?" He asked, placing his forearm on Naruto's neck and scanning his eyes across the blond's body. "I'm not going to lie, you are quite beautiful. I'd love to destroy all of this if I could, but it seems I haven't the time, do I?" He chided as Naruto writhed underneath.

Naruto watched in morbid curiosity as the older man seemed to fall into a trance as he ran his thumb underneath his left eye.

"It's the eyes. They're going to have to go." He said as he traced the kunai seductively across Naruto's eyelashes. "Such a striking color. Put's the sky to shame, actually." He remarked as he continued tracing the eye with his kunai. Naruto winced as Yujirou leaned down slowly, laughed, and whispered into his ear:

"This is the consequence called azure." He whispered, and Naruto screamed in agony as Yujirou tore the kunai across his eye, sending spurts of blood into the wall beside them. Naruto's hands shook violently as he placed his hand in front of his eye and saw nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

"Now for the other one..." Yujirou commented factually as he wiped the kunai on his shirt and held it out. "3...2...1..."

"Chidori!" Came a loud voice, and Naruto ducked as the blue static of Sasuke's Chidori slammed into Yujirou, sending him flying into a box of paper bombs on the other end of the room. Craning his head to the side, he felt the blood pool onto the floor from his missing eye as Sasuke's feet stepped over his head and into his field of vision. Someone was here.

Sasuke was here.

Throwing a box out of the way, a series of at least 100 paper bombs slid across the floor as Yujirou fumbled into a standing position.

"Who the fuck are y-!" He tried to shout, but was rendered speechless as Sasuke tore the Kusanagi out of its sheath and plunged it into Yujirou's shoulder. With the sword pinning him into the box behind him, Sasuke stepped in front of Yuujirou.

"Uchiha." Yuujirou commented through a pained laugh as his eyes tracked Sasuke's own. "The single heir to the most tragic bloodline in existence. Eyes that bring pain and anguish to whoever see's and wields them."

Although he could only see with one eye, Naruto caught the sound of Yuujirou whimpering in pain as Sasuke turned the Kusanagi inside of him.

"I _hate _bloodlines." Yuujirou explained, coughing up blood and tar and cursing violently. "Especially eye techniques. You hate it too. I can tell."

Sasuke was clearly not in the mood for talking, as demonstrated by his response in the form of another half-turn of the Kusanagi. Yujirou whimpered, but continued to hold his grin.

"Your eyes radiate power and fear, but they also scream with the pain of death and destruction."

"Shut up." Sasuke remarked coldly as he turned the sword to the right again, earning a pitiful yelp from Yuujirou. A minute passed before Yuujirou began to laugh quietly until it escalated into a loud, maniacal laughter of the most distrusting kind.

"I can fix that for you." Yuujirou commented darkly, and Naruto suddenly felt realization hit him like a train as he ran his finger across the tar on his cheek.

"Sasuke! Watch out for the ta-" But before Naruto could finish, he was cut off as Yuujirou spit the black tar into both of Sasuke's eyes, rendering him completely blind as the tar hardened into a black film over the Sharingan.

"Dammit!" Sasuke hissed as he stumbled backwards, his hold on Kusanagi faultering.

"Get out of here, Sasuke!" Naruto screamed as Sasuke began clawing at the film over his eyes. Yuujirou, still pinned to the box, began to laugh hysterically in the background.

"Shut up, Naruto!" He spat. "I'm not completely blind!"

Naruto glanced at Yuujirou to find him tugging at the sword in his shoulder. Fatigue, fueled by adrenaline, soon turned into panic as the reality of the situation told Naruto that Sasuke was blind, he himself was losing blood, and Yujirou would soon have the Kusanagi for himself.

"Listen, when he gets the Kusanagi out, I can't help you fight! Leave me here!"

"Fuck that!" Sasuke shouted as he began to charge a chidori.

"You can't help here and you know it! For fuck's sake, Sasuke, go get Kakashi!"

"I'm not leaving you here, you moron!"

"You have no choice!" Naruto called back, and he felt himself begin to cry as the blood pooled around him.

"Get over yourself, Naruto!"

But before Naruto could respond, they both fell silent as the clash of the Kusanagi hit the floor. Turning toward the sound, Naruto grimaced as Yuujirou began sauntering toward Sasuke slowly. Measuring Sasuke's distance between the door and a torch on the wall, Naruto suddenly felt an all-consuming illness at the prospect of what he knew he had to do.

Standing shakily to his knees, he subdued the last of his chakra and hurled himself towards Sasuke. Sasuke was unfamiliar with the area and couldn't see, which meant he had a chance. Grabbing the older boy's collar, Naruto used the last of his strength to shove Sasuke into the hallway, locking the iron door behind him.

"Naruto, let me the fuck in!"

"I'm sorry, Sasuke." He commented as he limped towards the torch on the wall, leaving a trail of blood along the way.

"What are you doing?" Yuujirou asked as his laughter subsided and his eyes bulged in panic. He glanced at the torch on the wall and the boxes of explosives in the corner.

Ignoring him, Naruto reached for torch, pulled it off of the stand, and threw it onto the boxes of paper bombs across the room where it landed with a dull thud.

"Y-You fool!" Yuujirou screamed. "You'll blow us to bits!"

And then Sasuke knew.

And Naruto knew he must have figured it out, because he began kicking and beating on the door violently and screaming through the cracks. Naruto watched as the torch rolled down several of the boxes and onto the stone floor, igniting the wood on the boxes, and he knew it was only a matter of time.

Slowly, he sauntered over to the door and spoke up:

"Sasuke, if I've never said it before, I just want you to know that I lo-"

"Don't you dare fucking say it, Naruto!"

"Okay." He laughed somewhat sadly. "You already know, anyway." He smiled as he leaned back against the door and slid down. Closing his eyes, he watched as the flames tore through the boxes and felt the vibrations from the others side of the door where Sasuke was kicking. Looking to his side, he spotted a big, iron furnace hidden in the shadows that was used to melt metal for the kunai and shuriken. Supporting himself with his hands, he crawled slowly behind the furnace and prayed that this structure would make it through.

"I was given a second chance." He commented through a sad smile. "And I'm grateful."

"Open the door! goddamit, Naruto!"

"Tell the others that I-"

But before he could finish, an ear-piercing explosion filled the room, and Sasuke stepped back from the door as smoke, heat and debris burst through the bottom.


End file.
